1992's My Cousin Vinny is a delightful comedy-cum-courtroom drama set in Alabama. Joe Pesci stars as Vinny, the garage mechanic recently turned lawyer, who finds himself straight in at the deep end when his young cousin is unjustly arrested, along with his buddy, for the murder of a store clerk. From the opening scenes in which the hapless arrestees labour under the impression they've been ...
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Home EntertainmentStarring: Joe Pesci, Marisa Tomei, Ralph Macchio, Mitchell Whitfield, Fred GwynneDirected By: Jonathan Lynn
As revisionist history, Michael Mann's intelligent docudrama The Insider is a simmering brew of altered facts and dramatic license. In a broader perspective, however, the film (co-written with Forrest Gump Oscar-winner Eric Roth) is effectively accurate as an engrossing study of ethics in the corruptible industries of tobacco and broadcast journalism. On one side, there is Jeffrey ...
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Studios Home EntertainmStarring: Russell Crowe, Al Pacino, Christopher Plummer, Diane Venora, Philip Baker HallDirected By: Michael Mann
Based on the bestseller by John Grisham, Runaway Jury is a slick thriller that's exciting enough to overcome the gaps in its plot. The ultimate target has been changed: Grisham's legal assault on the tobacco industry was switched to the hot-button issue of gun control (no doubt to avoid comparisons with The Insider) in a riveting exposé of jury-tampering. Gene Hackman plays the ...
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Home EntertainmentStarring: John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Rachel Weisz, Bruce DavisonDirected By: Gary Fleder
A groundbreaking screwball caper, 1978's National Lampoon's Animal House was in its own way a rite of passage for Hollywood. Set in 1962 at Faber College, it follows the riotous carryings-on of the Delta Fraternity, into which are initiated freshmen Tom Hulce and Stephen Furst. Among the established house members are Tim Matheson, Peter Riegert and the late John Belushi as Bluto, a ...
Manufacturer: Universal Pictures UKStarring: John Belushi, Karen Allen, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Verna BloomDirected By: John Landis
Cinderella Man is a wholesome slice of old-fashioned Americana, offering welcomed relief from the shallowness of many summer blockbusters. In dramatising the legendary Depression-era comeback of impoverished boxer Jim Braddock, director Ron Howard benefits from another superb collaboration with his A Beautiful Mind star Russell Crowe, whose portrayal of Braddock is simultaneously ...
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Studios Home EntertainmStarring: Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger, Paul Giamatti, Craig Bierko, Bruce McGillDirected By: Ron Howard
Based on the bestselling novel by Steven Pressfield, The Legend of Bagger Vance is a beguiling addition to the tiny genre of feel-good mystical sports movies. In Georgia at the height of the Depression, Adele Invergordon (Charlise Theron) organises a golf tournament to publicise her inherited luxury hotel/golf course. Taking part are two genuine golf stars of the period, together with ...
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Home EntertainmentStarring: Will Smith, Matt Damon, Charlize Theron, Bruce McGill, Joel GretschDirected By: Robert Redford
In giving 1991's The Last Boy Scout a three-star review, critic Roger Ebert was properly performing his duty as an objective reporter, praising the filmmakers' professional skill while observing that "the only consistent theme of the film is its hatred of women". For the purposes of this capsule review, there's no such obligation to level-headed fairness; the simple truth is, this ...
Manufacturer: Warner Home VideoStarring: Bruce Willis, Damon Wayans, Chelsea Field, Noble Willingham, Taylor NegronDirected By: Tony Scott
Elizabethtown has all of the elements of a great Cameron Crowe movie, but none of the Cameron Crowe vision that made Almost Famous work. It's mostly a series of sweet moments, each capped with the right song at the right time; in fact, the soundtrack is the real star of the movie, and the right song is all there is to piece together a film that is much less than the sum of its parts. ...
Manufacturer: Paramount Home Entertainment (UK)Starring: Orlando Bloom, Paul Schneider, Loudon Wainwright, Tom Cruise, Kirsten DunstDirected By: Cameron Crowe
The winning comic finesse of Reese Witherspoon drives Legally Blonde 2. It's astonishing that the sequel could possibly be daffier than the first movie, but Legally Blonde 2 leaves reality behind like an unflattering outfit. Unemployed lawyer Elle Woods (Witherspoon) sets off to the US capitol to ban cosmetics testing on animals, after discovering that her beloved Chihuahua's own ...
Manufacturer: MGM EntertainmentStarring: Reese Witherspoon, Sally Field, Bob Newhart, Regina King, Jennifer CoolidgeDirected By: Charles Herman-Wurmfeld
Collateral offers a change of pace for Tom Cruise as a ruthless contract killer, but that's just one of many reasons to recommend this well-crafted thriller. It's from Michael Mann, after all, and the director's stellar track record with crime thrillers (Thief, Manhunter, and especially Heat) guarantees a rich combination of intelligent plotting, well-drawn characters, ...
Manufacturer: Paramount Home EntertainmentStarring: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter BergDirected By: Michael Mann
